OhMyGod Slow Cooker Short Ribs of Beef

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Did you hear us moaning the other night? Like, moaning-moaning, the sound your body makes involuntarily when experiencing something so good it shakes you to your core? No, not sex—get your mind out of the gutter! Food. In this case, these incredible short ribs, braised in a sauce of red wine, soy sauce, and ketchup. Could not be easier. And could not be tastier.

The meat was so tender I couldn’t even get it out of the slow cooker with bone attached, so I pulled it into large shreds and made a sauce out of it. Served over fresh pappardelle from Savino’s, this was the most delicious meal I’ve made all year. Possibly in my entire life.

One note: Short ribs are exceptionally fatty little buggers, so if at all possible make this one day ahead and refrigerate the sauce separately—you’ll wind up with a layer of fat so thick you’ll be mildly nauseated just looking at it, but your body will thank you for hacking it off and throwing it away.

One other note: I hocked my engagement ring and bought my ribs at The Meat Hook, the new butcher shop inside the Brookyn Kitchen Labs. They were unbelievably delicious, but I couldn’t swear that they wouldn’t be just as delicious with a much, much cheaper package of ribs. There’s so much waste, thanks to the large bones and all that fat, that this wound up costing $7.50 per serving for the meat alone—and short ribs are supposed to be a cheap cut. Next time I’ll try it with some unpedigreed beef, and report back if it’s any less fabulous.

Combine first six ingredients (through black pepper) in the slow cooker and stir. Add the ribs, submerging them in the sauce. [In my oval, this required cutting the ribs into one-bone widths, then dunking each end in the sauce. I cooked them with the bones positioned upright.] Scatter the onions over the ribs, cover, and cook until the meat starts to separate from the bone, 7 to 9 hours on LOW or 4 to 5 hours on HIGH.

If you can, refrigerate the ribs and sauce separately overnight. Not only will the flavor improve, but you’ll also be able to discard a shocking amount of congealed fat. If you must serve right away, I suggest pouring the sauce into a fat separatorfirst.

This Post Has 106 Comments

Alisabow

I always thought that part of the joy of ribs — like bacon–was the idea that you were killing off a bit of your heart with every bite. Take off some of the fat? Oh, my husband would not like that. BUT I've never been brave enough to cook ribs myself, mostly because I've never tried. This recipe looks easy enough. Thanks for inspiring me!

loothor

Lil’ tip for quickly removing fat from gravies if you don’t want to/ have time to refrigerate overnight and reheat:

Pour sauce into an appropriately sized plastic bag (zip lock is easiest) stuffed into a large glass or measuring cup and let sit for about 5 or 10 minutes. Most of the fat should rise to the surface. Removed the bag containing the sauce from the cup and cut off a corner, letting sauce drain from bottom of bag back into cup. Pinch the corner shut before the fat on top begins to drain and discard the remains.

I do this for many slow-cooker recipes, particularly those involving fatty cuts of meat like short ribs, chuck roasts, etc.

Smart, loothor! My only worry would be putting hot food into plastic–lately I’ve been getting kinda obsessive about chemicals leaching into food, and some studies suggest it’s worse when food is hot. Hmm, wonder if there’s another way to achieve the same thing…

Jim

I buy ’em at around $4 per lb. at the local locker plant. They’re slightly higher in the stores.

And buy the way. Is it really necessary to describe the fat that renders out of the ribs (which is what gives them their flavor)as disgusting, etc., Grow up, or are you some 5 year old at the table looking a plate of something unfamiliar?

And hey, if you find an inch-thick layer of congealed fat anything but disgusting, this probably isn’t the right blog for you. I never understood until now that embracing grease was a level of maturity. Thanks for helping me to see that.

Hi Jim, thanks so much for coming back! We can find short ribs for under $9/lb in Asian markets, for sure. I just don’t happen to live near any–but when I do, a few pounds of short ribs are almost always in my basket.

The inch of fat isn’t on the ribs themselves–it’s on the cooked sauce once it’s been refrigerated. It’s pretty amazing, what you’ll see when you do that. Give it a try sometime! I think you’ll find that you get all the flavor you want, but without the heart-clogging 😉

Jim

1 Jun 2012

Deb: Maybe it’s a regional thing. The ribs I get locally are fatty. That’s the nature of ribs. Like bacon. However, when I make 3 – 4 lbs of short ribs in the slow cooker, let it cool, then refrigerate without messin’ with it, I get maybe 1/4″ – 3/8″ of pure fat congealed at the surface. Easy enough to chip off and discard.

Maybe the ribs are fattier on the East coast, I’m not aware.

After reading this article, I got hungry for short ribs and remembered I had some in the freezer. My recipe is very similar to yours. They are now in the crock pot as I write this. Should be done by supper time. Excuse me, youse guys on da East coast refer to it as dinner. 😉

Les Clark

I stopped at meat market in Chinatown tonight, here in Vancouver. They had totally robust beef ribs at 2.59Lb so almost 6 lbs for 15.00. Will try this tommorow Recipe sounds good. I like to use a rack in the slow cooker so they aren’t floating…Will let you know how they turn out
Les

marthaandme

An Honest Cook

Cook's Illustrated did a short ribs version using boneless short ribs. I haven't tried it yet, but they said it dramatically cuts down on the fat and allows you to serve the ribs the same day. They recommend that if you can't find boneless, then buy twice as much bone-in and then remove the bones yourself. To compensate for the body the bones give the sauce, they use a bit of (unflavored) gelatin.

I have a slow cooker short ribs recipe I'm fond of that includes two bottles of dark ale, brown sugar, tomato paste, and mushroom soy sauce (an umami bomb!).

debbie koenig

Marthaandme, short ribs are definitely fatty. Buuut if you make them the day before, most of the fat congeals at the top so you can toss it. In the end, the meat itself wasn't fatty at all.

AnHonestCook, I'm not sure how I feel about adding gelatin to a meat recipe. Seems so unnecessary! CI often does things like that, which make me scratch my head. I'm sure the end result is delicious, but everything's just so much more complicated than it needs to be. YOUR recipe, though, I'd love to see!

1. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of ribs, meaty side down, and cook until well browned. Turn each rib on one side and cook until well browned, about 1 minute. Repeat with remaining sides. Transfer ribs to slow-cooker insert, arranging them meaty side down. Repeat with remaining ribs.

2. Add butter and reduce heat to medium. Add onions and cook until well browned, about 20 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook for about 2 minutes, coating onions with paste. Stir in beer, bring to simmer, and cook, scraping browned bits from pan bottom with wooden spoon, until foaming subsides, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in potato starch, bay leaves, thyme, and soy sauce. Transfer to slow cooker.3. Set slow cooker on low, cover, and cook until ribs are fork-tender, anywhere from 8-11 hours (or cook on high for about 5 hours). Transfer ribs to storage container and strain liquid into another container. Cover and refrigerate separately for at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.4. When ready to serve, skim off hardened fat from liquid. Place short ribs, meaty side down, and liquid in Dutch oven and reheat over medium heat until warmed through, about 20 minutes. Transfer ribs to serving platter. Season with salt and pepper. Pour 1 cup sauce over ribs. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with egg noodles, passing remaining sauce separately.

daveM

Toni

I bought a slow cooker a not long ago and the first thing I made in was beef ribs and like you I was shocked at the cost. It's all fat and bone – why so expensive? I used a Paula Deen recipe (her husband's recipe) and it called for coffee. I had never made anything using short ribs before and I was flabbergasted at he grease- I love your idea to refrigerate first.This is a link to the recipe I used. It was tastyflabbergasted

debbie koenig

Stacee

I'm making this right now and my entire house smells incredible. My market only had the ones without bones. Wondering if it will be the same amount of fat. In any case, I plan on serving it tomorrow so I can take out the fat.

Stacee

Stacee

Amazing. Lifted the fat right off. Poured the shredded meat and juice on top of papparadelle. Made a caesar salad and sauteed aspargagus (just in case). Crazy delicious. Didn't touch the sides or the pasta.

debbie koenig

Judith

When storing for next day fat skimming, did you remove it from the slow cooker into another container or did you put the slow cooker insert right into the fridge and reheat in that after skimming some fat? I am so glad I found this site as I have wanted to make short ribs.

debbie koenig

Judith, welcome! Definitely transfer it to another container. I usually put the meat in one and the sauce in another–makes it even easier to take off the thick layer of fat. Slow cookers aren't meant for reheating–they warm the food too slowly, so it stays in the temperature "danger zone" where bacteria thrive.

debbie koenig

Stacee, I agree, sometimes the prices are NUTS. Especially when there's so much waste. I've never tried this with anything but short ribs, but it's definitely worth a shot. I imagine the texture of the meat might not be the same–the fat and collagen in short ribs makes for some exceptionally luscious eating–but give it a try! And please, let me know how it turns out.

Tara

debbie koenig

Tara, I'm jealous! We usually eat it with pasta–wide pappardelle noodles are particularly good. Egg noodles would also work well. And for a veg I'll saute some spinach or broccoli, or roast some carrots.

Tara

Foodiebia

This recipe is incredible. I made my own "ketchup" for the recipe (with tomato paste, sugar, salt, garlic powder, and a splash of vinegar). It was so easy and delicious. I skimmed lots of fat off the top of the sauce before serving, which helped cut down on the fat.Thanks for the great post!

kellypea

Looking for a different recipe for short ribs — I seem to like to try a new one each time I make them. Love the discussion thread here — some great ideas. I'm scratching my head over the gelatin thing, too. Really? Hmmm. Last time I made short ribs I used Michael Voltaggio's spiced rib recipe and they were truly amazing — not fatty at all. Looking for more of a BBQ flavor this time to shred them for sliders tonight. Wondering if this flavor combo would work…

Anonymous

hungrykim

Tried this tonight and was YUMMY. However there was a little taste that annoyed me…it may have been the soy sauce. I think I will try the worchestershire instead. Got ribs left so will also try the beer braised recipe. Thanks for a good dinner! (BTW, I put the sauce in a fat separator, stuck it in the fridge for awhile and fat comes right up!)

Kimberly

Oh my gosh, I have NO IDEA how I managed to misread that so completely! I was wondering why Ryan might think you should heat it up before removing the fat… So sorry, Ryan!

Anyway, you can definitely reheat in the microwave–I do at least half the time. Other times I do it in a saucepan, covered, over low heat. If you’ve got the oven on around 350 for something else, you could also put it in a casserole dish, cover, and put it in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

I found your recipe because I was specifically looking for a short ribs with wine recipe that didn’t require sauteing the meat first. Why do you think most meat recipes for the slow cooker call for sauteing the meat and onions first? Does that really enhance the flavor? Strikes me as just making more work for yourself and negating the ease of using the slow cooker.

Nina, I do think there’s a marginally deeper flavor with browned meat. But I’m with you–I don’t have time for that, and the extra cleanup just isn’t worth it to me! This recipe is astoundingly good without any browning at all.

Lori

I totally disagree. Browning the meat takes an extra 5-10 minutes. The flavor is richer, deeper and the texture and appearance are greatly improved. To do this: dry off ribs, salt (not if using soy sauce) dust with flour. Heat oil (very important) add ribs and don’t overcrowd pan, turn after a couple of minutes and transfer to slow cooker (or dutch oven if cooking in oven). This is a great and simple recipe that can easily be tweaked according to taste, i.e. beef stock, beer, vegetable juices instead of wine bbq sauce vs ketchup and brown sugar. You really can’t mess up short ribs. They are a great staple to have on hand.

Thanks for sharing your opinion, Lori. But I challenge you to prepare this side-by-side both ways and tell me you can taste a difference! When I’m super-stressed, as I often am in the morning, dirtying a frying pan (and the stovetop, since little grease spatters go everywhere) is an extra step I just don’t miss 😉

I have to thank you for this recipe – I found it last year, and not it’s the only way I want to cook the grass-fed beef in my freezer. I used up all our short ribs this way, then moved on to using this same recipe with pot roast – SO good! Thank you!

I usually roast my ribs in the oven at 350 degrees with a homemade B.B.Q. sauce and sliced onions then I transfer it to the slow cooker. The roasting speeds up the time and it is still delicious. Stew meat works well and no extra fat to monkey with. 8:02 pm 3/23/2012

Jane

This recipe looks soooo good that I’m going to make it today in the crock-pot so it’s ready for tomorrow’s dinner!!
I’m in London, Ontario, Canada and cannot believe how expensive your meat is!! Since there is only 3 of us for me to cook for… I bought 2.17lbs for $7.82! And this is boneless beef ribs!!
Think I’ll try it with stew meat too 🙂

Jane

Ohhh myyy gosh!!! The ribs were absolutely incredible!! They just melted in the mouth… lol… didn’t even have to chew, they were THAT tender.
Someone mentioned using stewing beef. I have a few pounds of that right in my freezer (and nice stuff from the butcher at that) and I bet you can’t guess what I’m making this weekend!! Of course it’s a lot less fat so I bet my daughter will be eating this one!!! And I think I want to add some sliced fresh mushrooms this time 🙂 Mmmmmm

Carol

I have made this a few times now. Love it! I am not good at delaying gratification (and have the thighs to prove it) so I serve same day. I carefully spoon the pool of grease off the top. You’d be amazed how much. Unfortunately I lose some of the delicious sauce too but that is the prie I pay. After refrigerating leftovers there is little fat so I think I am removing the worst of it. My husband brought home beef shanks thinking they were ready to grill steaks. The price should have tipped him off. Anyway, going to try them in place of short ribs. There are in the slow cooker right now.

Jane Hall

Okay… I used the stewing beef and OH. MY. GOSH!!! It was even better than the ribs! I trimmed off any excess fat so I didn’t even have to skim when the dish was done. Such a rich flavour too 🙂
I will definately be making this again and staying with stewing beef.

Chuck

“OMG” is right! (I did a bit of nibbling!) Thank you so much, Debbie! Ran across your recipe yesterday and did them up today…7 hrs at 200d. did the trick….falling off the bone and I have them in the ‘fridge now. I hope the fat congeals quickly because I don’t know if I can wait until tomorrow to serve them. This is the way the ultimate short ribs ought to turn out. I’ve also enjoyed your tips and the reviews on this thread. You are awesome!

Great recipe. I’ve made this a few times. Once with Short Ribs and another time with Oxtail. With the Oxtail I serve this over home made pappardelle, but with the Short ribs I serve it over a mushroom ravioli. Using a slow cooker drives me and my dog crazy during the day with the aroma. I have to leave the house because I don’t trust myself (or the dog) to keep the lid closed while cooking!
Since slow cookers work at temperatures well below boiling point and do not rapidly denature enzymes, vegetables tend to lose trace nutrients. Blanched vegetables, having been exposed to very hot water, have already had these enzymes rendered largely ineffective, so a blanching or sauteing pre-cook stage will leave more vitamins intact. This is often a smaller nutrient loss than over-boiling and can be lessened to an extent by not removing the lid until the food is done.
I think it is important to brown onions and meats. For one, browning a meat “seals in the flavor” while the browning also adds flavor to the sauce. Sealing in the flavor is important when you are slow cooking, because long slow cooking will soften the connective tissue without toughening the muscle.
The low temperature of slow-cooking makes it almost impossible to burn food even if cooked too long; however, some meats and most vegetables will become nearly tasteless or “raggy” if overcooked.

Interesting, about the vegetables, Roddy! I’d always heard that the opposite is true–that low & slow causes less nutrient loss, as does the fact that in most slow cookers very little of the liquid is cooked off, so any nutrients that dissolve into it are eaten regardless. I’m unable to find anything in scientific literature that examines it either way (only on wikipedia, where the statement about denaturing enzymes is made without a source). Where did you learn about it? I’d love to see the research!

As for the notion of browning meat “sealing in flavor,” Harold McGee debunked that! From his Keys to Good Cooking: “Searing meat does not eal in its juices, and moist cooking methods do not make meats moist. Juiciness depends almost entirely on how hot you cook the center of the meat. If it gets much hotter than 150F/65C, it will be dry.” So pre-browning, while it does help create the “fond” that adds flavor to a dish, won’t make the meat itself any more flavorful or moist.

I skip pre-browning with the slow cooker 99% of the time because a) to me the whole point of the slow cooker is its simplicity, and adding that extra step takes away from the appeal, and b) it means more cleanup! If I had a dishwasher I might feel otherwise, but I’ve never noticed enough of a difference in flavor to make it worthwhile. This recipe is insanely flavorful without that step! Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Vicki

Found your website when I Googled short rib recipes. I had never made them before, and always wanted to. I made this recipe tonight, and wow…they were amazing! I got a two thumbs up from my kids and mother! Sometimes I modify a recipe slightly, but this time I followed it exactly, and I wouldn’t change a thing! They were melt in your mouth! I followed the suggestion about using a fat seperator, and I was glad I did…but drizzling just a little jus over the ribs was yummy! I served with rice and salad, will make it again! Thanks!

David

Cooked these yesterday and will be serving them tonight. I took a small taste and they’re delicious. One thing, I separated the sauce as suggested and this morning instead of the fat on top, the whole bowl of sauce gelatinized. I’m wondering if perhaps the sauce reduced too much. If I re-heat the sauce and let it rest for a bit, should I be able to skim off the fat. I can’t wait to eat them tonight!!!

David, that sounds like there *wasn’t* any fat, which is weird! Gelatinous broth/sauce comes from the collagen that’s inside the bones–which usually means it’s nice and rich. Did you use short ribs? Did they look fatty raw? Usually you can see some pretty thick layers of fat, which melt as it cooks and then re-solidify on top of the sauce.

David

I did use short ribs, but there was very little outside fat on them. They must have been closely trimmed. I also browned them for about 5 minutes on both sides under the broiler before putting them in the slow cooker, and some fat did render off. I want to go home and eat them now!

Michelle O.

I haven’t made this recipe yet, but I plan on trying it soon with chuck roast instead of the short ribs. I recently tried short ribs for the first time; I found them by sheer luck at a local grocery store and decided to give them a go. I haven’t been able to find any since then because apparently, they “don’t sell.” :-/

Anyhoo, I had tried those ribs with the “Korean Ribs” recipe over at the Year of Slow Cooking blog, and they came out *divine*. I also saw your recipe here, and appreciate your advice on cooking the ribs a day ahead; I did that, and the amount of fat that rose to the top of the sauce was alarming. BUT (!) the meat and the sauce were amazing, and I’m sure this recipe will make for an amazing meal too. I’ll try to remember to update on how the recipe turns out with a chuck roast, as I’m sure I won’t be the only person to have trouble getting short ribs. If only more people knew about them… *sigh*

Hi Michelle! Where I live short ribs aren’t hard to come by necessarily, but they’re often in the “upscale” butchers for ridiculous amounts of money. I’ve had the best luck finding them affordably at Asian markets–not sure if you have any where you live.

Please do report back on the chuck roast!

Michelle O.

So sorry not to have reported back earlier – I totally forgot! I did try the recipe with a chuck roast, and it was really tasty. The only issue I had wasn’t with the recipe itself, but with the fact that I probably over-trimmed the roast (I wanted to get rid of some of the harder sections of fat that I thought wouldn’t render well, and I cut the roast into chunks)… so it ended up being a bit on the draw side. However, the sauce itself was quite good – it reminded me a bit of a beef stew recipe I had thrown together for myself a few years ago (the beauty of your recipe is that the ingredient list is much smaller, but still has a rich flavor). In fact, if I made this again with a roast, I’d probably try throwing in some veggies and maybe a little chicken stock to make an actual stew! That being said, I still look forward to trying this with actual short ribs – I bet it will be *awesome*.

Phil F

Your recipe for Slow Cook Short Ribs looks scrumptious but you don’t have a printer friendly tab and being retired and on fixed income trying recipes is a hobby and passtime. There is no room to waste printing paper. Would appreciate a Printer Friendly tab.
Thanks, Have a Happy and Healthy New Year.
Phil

Oh Phil, I hear you! That’s the #1 item on my list, next time I can afford to pay my web guy for improvements. In the meanwhile, I suggest copying the text of the recipe & pasting it into Word, then printing. You’ll be in control that way.

Rj

Thanks for the great recipe. I actually smoke my ribs to medium rare first adds a tone of flavor and helps remove a lot of fat. Oven roasting would also help with this, IMO. I also brown them and the onions.

Hi Adam. Definitely don’t reheat in the slow cooker! It’ll take too long to get out of the temperature “danger zone” where bacteria can multiply & make you sick. I reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan, covered, over low heat. The oven would work too, also covered.

Adam

1) I cooked the day before and highly recommend doing that. Made it much easier to remove the fat, and the meat definitely gets better. I separate meat and braising liquid night before and then returned together to reheat the next day. 275 covered for an hour did the trick and didn’t end up cooking the meat anymore.

2) I recommend actually doubling the braising liquids portion of the recipe – a) it allowed the meat to be fully covered during the initial slow cook, b) having that much liquid made it easier to reheat the next day – the meat was able to sit in a good amount of liquid and c) who doesn’t like a lot of sauce? Especially when you serve with mashed potatoes like it did – the sauce acted as a gravy.

I also wanted to copy the recipe for the Beer-Braised Short Ribs in Red Wine. Since there was not a copy icon, I highlighted the whole recipe, copied it into a new Email, and sent it to myself. It worked very well.

I made this cook’s recipe and I was real disappointed with the taste. Followed the recipe to a “T” and all I could taste was Pork, Pork, Pork Ya you right I used Pork. So if I followed the recipe what did I do wrong? Should have been a lot more flavorfull than it was.

Mhoop 55

Mhoop 55

Cara

Hi, I’m planning on making these (either boneless short ribs or stew meat – whatever I can find) for my fiance’s shift at the Fire Station on Christmas Eve. I know red wine will cook off but I can’t in my right mind add alcohol to a meal I’m serving to first responders. Has anyone successfully made it with anything else in place of wine? I know I’ll probably lose a lot of the flavor and I’d much prefer wine but any suggestions would be wonderful!

Thanks to everyone who posting in the comments, I’ve ready each and every one and feel fully prepared to not only cook this but skim the fat off and leave instructions for them to heat it up later 🙂

Ugh, this was caught in spam. So sorry! I get what you’re saying about the alcohol, but when something cooks for hours & hours the alcohol really does go away. This site says that according to USDA tests, after 2.5 hours only 5% remains–and this cooks for much longer than that. Plus it’s only one cup of wine spread across four servings to begin with.

If you’re not convinced, you can try using red grape juice with a little red wine vinegar or lemon juice plus some water, but it won’t be quite the same. Or you could look for nonalcoholic red wine!

tracy

Sometimes I use the microwave, sometimes I do it in a covered saucepan over low heat. If I’m using the oven for something else I’ll put it in a covered baking dish and pop it in there, too. Whatever way you like, basically!